Disclaimer: I own the plot and the idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.

I glanced down at the cart as Sonya loaded it with bottle after bottle of alcohol. It was early, but she was having a party tonight to celebrate the hotel's almost opening.

"It's like the pre-party to the actual party!" She grinned in glee when I questioned her about whole bash. She had basically invited her whole PR team, most of my team, and some people from the management team "We're almost at the end of the finish line. Think of this party as a motivator, a way to push you toward the sweet glory of the finish line."

"Mikhail is going to hate you when you're passed out drunk and he has to clean up," I chuckled as Sonya smacked my back before turning and going down a different aisle.

"I just have to check something over here! I'll come find you in a sec!"

I had to admit that while I wasn't a huge party person, I was looking forward to the night. Sure, things had been hectic for the past few weeks, but in a positive way. Since my finishing designs on the hotel had been submitted and approved, I had begun accepting other works, a new performing arts theater in the city on the top of my list. Rose was keeping busy as well, her cross country team having wrapped up a spectacular season, she was now turning her attention to track and field for the spring semester. Of course, as the weather turned colder, hockey season was gearing up, so my little girl was now spending many of her afternoons with the boy, watching him at hockey practice. She had, however, not completely forgotten about her old man. Next Friday we were having a good old fashion, father-daughter pizza and hot cocoa date, just like we used to when she was little. Then, we would be driving out to the country to visit her grandparents and Merida for the weekend. I was especially looking forward to that, it'd be nice to get out of the city, away from work and obligations, and spend some time with family.

Honestly, I knew I had to spend as much time as I could with Rose. After all, in a years time, she would be in college, in God knows what city, and out of my house. I know the general stereotype was that most parents couldn't wait to renovate their college aged kid's room into a game room or something of the sort, but deep down, we parents were softies, and we would miss our kids terribly.

I was just happy to know that Rose was a considerate and caring daughter, and a teenager not ashamed to spend time with her dear old dad.

My pleasant thoughts came to a crashing halt when I heard a voice I had never wanted to hear again, say my name.

"Ibrahim."

My eyes flew open and I stood up in shock.

"Janine. What the hell are you doing here?"

Her eyes flashed with irritation for a split second before a bland, closed off mask slammed onto her face. She stood there, looking at me impassively. "I'm doing the same thing you're doing Ibrahim, shopping. That's what you do at grocery stores."

I shook my head. "Of course." I turned on my heel and began to head out of the aisle before she spoke again.

"Will you be at the meeting Saturday?"

Forcing myself to turn around and answer her, "No, I won't be. My attendance isn't mandatory. Besides, I have plans already."

"Oh," she said simply. "Of course."

"I know it's hard for you to comprehend," I felt a sardonic smile come across my face, and words leave my mouth before I could stop them. "But some of us actually takes days off. Use them to spend time with our loved ones. You know, family? Those who we love and who love us back? Though, I get the the feeling you would not know what that concept is."

She said nothing, but the mask broke, and her mouth formed into a hard line. I took the opportunity to take in the woman who had shattered me and my daughter all those years ago.

Years ago it was her brilliant red curls that had first gotten my attention. I remember catching sight of those curls the first week of her freshman year at university. I was a junior, and some of my friends back then had given me shit for seriously pursuing a freshman, but I didn't care. The fire she possessed, the spark I saw in her eyes whenever we were together, make me fall, and fall hard. We were both ambitious people, which of course was seriously attractive to me when we were still dating.

Little did I know, that ambition would lead to the end of our relationship a few years later.

Now, seeing her right now, at the last place I'd expect to ever see her again, it was clear to me that time had aged her, hardened her. Her red curls were still there, though now the long locks I had once loved so much were cut into a harsh, short length, barely skimming her petite shoulders. Her small frame was ramrod straight, almost unnaturally so, as if she didn't know how to relax.

I almost...pitied her?

"I'm sorry, that was rude. Truly, sorry." I blew out a breath and forced a somewhat pleasant expression onto my face. "I have nothing else to say to you." I turned on my heel. "Have a nice day, Janine."

"You're so predictable, Ibrahim."

I stopped.

I let go of the cart.

I turned.

"Excuse me?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "You heard me. It's no surprise to me that, after all these years, I still found you here. In the same place you were nearly two decades ago."

My felt hands clenched in anger. "You don't have any say about me or my life. Your and your selfishness maybe not have been satisfied here," I snarled, "but plenty of people are. I'm very happy here, and with how my life has turned out."

She shook her head, a twisted half smile on her face. "Some of us are capable of dreaming big and making it happen. Others? Not so much so, eh?"

Even after all this time, her words rankled. "And some of us are capable of understanding the meaning of loyalty. Of devotion. Of honor. Of love." I smiled ruefully. "Others? Not so much, eh?"

"I did what I had to do-"

"You mean abandon your family?"

"We were hardly a family," she snarled.

"You're right," I laughed. "I may have fooled myself into thinking we were for two years, but I learned from my mistakes. But what about your parents? Merida? I know you haven't even bothered to contact them since you left."

"Oh of course you know," she mildly shrieked, gathering the attention of a couple people in the nearby aisles. "You've been playing happy little family with them, haven't you? That's real nice of you, Ibrahim. You don't have a real family left, so you take someone else's!"

"I didn't take them! You left them behind and left me to pick up the pieces of your mess, alone. Do you know that your mother was so ashamed of your actions, that she was hesitant to contact me for weeks? Hell, she sent a handwritten letter to me-"

She interjected, laughing bitterly. "No doubt apologizing to you for me being such a shitty mother."

"She wasn't the one who should have be apologizing. And she didn't apologize to me. She apologized to Rose."

Those hazel eyes I once loved so much, narrowed and hardened. "I won't apologize for trying to be happy, Ibrahim."

I blew out a breath. "Do you know what you did, Janine? Do you know it took years to build up Rose's confidence? You and your careless words destroyed her spirit. Some days I thought I would never be getting her back again. You needed to be happy, ok, fine. But the way you went about it was shitty and you know it. Your words that night crushed her. A child. You hurt an innocent two year old because of your selfishness," I hissed. "You hurt my child."

"She's my daughter as well, Ibrahim," Janine stated simply.

Oh. Oh fuck no.

"No, Janine. Fuck you, that's not how this works. You left! Fifteen years ago, it was you who walked out the door in the middle of the night and took and first train out of here. That night was the moment where you ceased to be a mother. She hasn't been yours since that day: the day you put yourself and your pathetic needs above her. You are not her mother, Janine. You may have given birth to her, but that's all, now. Maybe you could've been a mother if you came back. If you tried a bit harder to give a damn." I laughed harshly. "But you didn't. All you accomplished was to make both of us feel as though we weren't enough."

"Why you-" Janine's face flushed a bright red as her curls. I guess I hit a nerve, "You know what Ibrahim? You are so pathetic. You could have been something, someone. You could have been designing luxury skyscrapers, or grand opera halls in any major city in this country. You could have, if you applied yourself more and gave more of a damn about your work. But no. That didn't happen for you. Here you are: a single father at a mediocre architecture firm in a pathetic excuse of a city. Thank God I came to my senses. Thank God I didn't let you drag me down with you."

"Shut up. Both of you. Right now."

We both turned at the eerily calm voice behind us. I blanched as I fully came to my senses and realized Janine and I had had it out in the middle of the goddamn grocery store. Of course, people in the surrounding areas were too polite to gawk, instead choosing to pretend to examine the products on the shelves with extreme interest.

"You're about to get us kicked out of the store," Janine's ever constant companion, Stan, stepped forward and took her by the arm. "Come on."

Robotically, which was perhaps the most apt word to describe the woman in front of me, Janine grasped her basket, but she didn't move from her spot.

Stan began to whisper frantically in her ear, trying to gently guide her away from the scene, but she stood firm. For once.

However, I was done with that. I was done with this bullshit.

I turned and steered a still face and silent Sonya away from Janine and Stan, not bothering to look back.

There was nothing to be said.

"Abe-" Sonya started. "That was...I'm sorry-are you okay?" She settled, asking timidly, worry in her eyes.

I couldn't help but grin, a sour one, but a grin nonetheless.

"I'm fine, Sonya," I looked at my friend, "it was just Janine. Nothing I couldn't deal with. ANd besides, it feels good to be the one who walked away this time."

Well. *coughs awkwardly*

That just happened. Talk about an explosive grocery trip, eh?

Aha, don't worry it can only go uphill from here, right? ;D

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and requests in a review! I wish you all a nice day/ night wherever you may be. And please, be kind to one another.